The spring air breezed through the woods, ruffling the trees and long grass. It was warm enough out for the bees and other insects to begin to fly around going about their merry way.

It was sunny enough for Queen Lily of the Northern Fay to wonder if she should visit the human villages again. It had been nearly a century since her last visit, and so much had changed. Her kingdom had shrunk noticeably, and the kingdoms to the East, West, and South had completely lost contact. She feared for their safety.

But it was too nice of a day for such worries. So instead, Lily went to the meadow she played in as a child. She blocked out any thoughts in her head, and simply enjoyed the feeling of the sun on her skin and the wind through her wings.

She picked a flower like she used to as a child and caused it to bloom and wilt interchangeably. With a small smile she closed her eyes, focusing on the whole meadow, and when she opened them again all the flowers followed her dance.

Then a twig snapped.

Humans.

No fairy in her kingdom would be gruff enough to make a noise when entering her meadow, nor would they enter without announcing themselves. There were humans in her meadow. They would take everything, kill everyone. She was doomed.

She waited a ten count before pulling her dagger from its sheath, and whipping around.

"Whoa," The man's hands shot up in surrender. He shied away from the blade at his throat, but Lily only pushed it closer.

"Who are you?" She demanded.

"Can you put the knife away?"

"No, now answer my question!" She pressed the dagger closer. "What do you want?"

"That wasn't your question." His eyes twinkled.

"Not the time for jokes, human."

"Human?" He balked. "Don't insult me, Princess."

The use of the nickname shocked her. Suddenly everything came into sharp focus. She realized the clothing he wore was only fit to another of the fay. Then she looked at his face, really looked. The angles of his face, the way his lips pulled up in the corner even when he frowned. But what really got her were the eyes, the swirling mass of color that suggested a million things at once.

"James?" She whispered, resheathing the dagger.

A smile broke across his face, pulling up farther on the right than left. Familiar. "Princess,"

"It's actually Queen now." Lily crossed her arms.

"And it's King for me." He rocked on his heels self-importantly.

"Really?"

"Of the Imps of the South."

"Everyone is safe down there?" She stepped closer to him.

"We're a quarter of what we were, but we're surviving."

"What about the East and West?"

"Sirius and Marlene's separate kingdoms were half destroyed, so they combined."

"Combined?" Lily raised her eyebrows. "Like… through marriage?"

"Oh god, no, neither of them wants that." James laughed. "It was completely diplomatic."

"Oh," Lily nodded. "A quarter of your kingdom you said?"

"Yes,"

"Have you ever considered… merging with someone?"

"Did you have someone in mind, Your Highness?"

"Well, Your Majesty," She stepped forward, echoing his formalness. "My kingdom is strong, and would be a safe place."

James took another step towards Lily, their bodies centimeters apart. "A diplomatic merging of our kingdoms?"

"Exactly,"

"Only diplomatic,"

"Solely and completely,"

"I accept." He leaned forward, a breath away. Lily pushed herself up on her toes slightly enough to just brush her lips against James'. She held herself there, waiting for him to make the final move. And then he did. It was a soft short movement of mouths before they pulled away, without moving any farther from each other than they were before.

"Now it's official." Lily said.

"Official," James echoed.

Lily moved forward, gently pressing her lips to his again. "Hurry back."

A/N- Thanks for reading. To the rest of you: I'll be updating Azkaban Asylum sometime in the next two weeks, I've just had a really busy summer.